Bruins Beat: B's eye Hossa

The NHL's annual free agent frenzy begins on Tuesday, and the Bruins are guaranteed of signing a highly sought after forward coveted by many teams around the league.

Douglas Flynn/Daily News Staff

The NHL's annual free agent frenzy begins on Tuesday, and the Bruins are guaranteed of signing a highly sought after forward coveted by many teams around the league.

But enough about Blake Wheeler.

That young prospect, who was drafted fifth overall by Phoenix in 2004 but never came to terms with the Coyotes, has already declared his intention to sign with Boston once the free agency period opens. He has the potential to make an impact down the road, but Bruins fans are hoping Tuesday brings news of someone capable of paying more immediate dividends signing with the Black-n-Gold.

The name the Bruins would most like to see signed at the bottom of a Boston contract belongs to forward Marian Hossa. The fit is an obvious one.

The Bruins improved dramatically on defense last year under Claude Julien, but often struggled to score. Hossa is arguably the best pure scorer available on the market. He's coming off a solid, if not spectacular, season last year that saw him tally 29 goals and 66 points in 72 games with Atlanta and Pittsburgh.

But Hossa's skill level was better shown in Ottawa and Atlanta, where he posted six years with 30-plus goals, including a pair of 40-goal seasons. And the 6-foot-1, 210-pound showed he still had that scoring touch when it mattered most, putting up 12-14-26 totals in 20 playoff games as he helped the Penguins reach the Stanley Cup finals.

Hossa, 29, was offered plenty to stay in Pittsburgh, but passed on an offer reported to be in the neighborhood of $50 million over seven years to test the free agency waters. Boston would appear a welcome port for him, as he has ties to captain and fellow Slovakian Zdeno Chara and Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli from his time in Ottawa, and also played alongside B's leading scorer Marc Savard in Atlanta.

There are some obstacles to bringing Hossa to Boston, however. First, the Bruins are far from the only team interested in his services. More importantly, Boston may be at a disadvantage in any bidding war because of its lack of salary cap space.

The cap has gone up to $56.7 million for next year, a jump from last year's $50.3 million and a staggering raise from the inaugural cap of $39 million after the end of the owner's lockout in 2005. Still, Boston already has salary commitments of approximately $49.5 million, with restricted free agents Dennis Wideman and Petteri Nokelainen remaining to be re-signed.

With Hossa likely to command at least $8 million a year over a long-term deal, the Bruins will have to cut salary elsewhere to make room for him.

"We do have some commitments out there, contractual commitments that put us at cap number that we can't go after a $10 million (a year) player," said Chiarelli in a conference call this week. "In that sense, if we decided to go after a $10 million player, we'd be in trouble."

Chiarelli wasn't ruling out making a run at Hossa or another big-ticket free agent, just indicating it would take more work than just convincing the object of his affection to sign on. He'd also have to bid adieu to some current players.

"I'm not feeling squeezed, but we'd have to move some money around a little bit to go after a really, really marquee player," Chiarelli said.

The most likely money to be moved is the $4.15 million on the last year of Glen Murray's contract. Murray will be tough to trade with that cap hit coming off an injury-plagued, 17-goal season, but could have his contract bought out, leaving the Bruins with a cap hit of $1.3 million in each of the next two years.

The deadline for buyouts is tomorrow, but teams can also buy out players within 48 hours of an arbitration decision. With Wideman filing for arbitration and hearings scheduled to be held between July 20 and August 4, that gives Boston a few more weeks to decide what to do with Murray. Teams are allowed to exceed the cap by 10 percent in the offseason, so the Bruins could sign players on July 1 and wait to free up money later, though Chiarelli would prefer to clear the books first.

"I'm going to have to be in position to do it, if I'm going to get the player or the players that we want, I have to at least set the table," said Chiarelli. "In a perfect world, if you want to do it that way, you'd like to move the money first and then get the player, but it doesn't always happen that way. It may be that you get the player and you move the money at some point in the summer or the season."

Chiarelli could also free up some money by dealing away veterans like P.J. Axelsson ($1.85 million) or Peter Schaefer ($2.1 million), or jettisoning goalie Manny Fernandez ($4.5 million) via trade or buyout. Fernandez's removal would put Boston in the market for a backup to Tim Thomas, but the Bruins could accomplish that for much cheaper, perhaps bringing back their own backup Alex Auld, a free agent who performed well as Thomas' understudy last year.

Hossa isn't the only potential target for the Bruins on Tuesday. Old friend Brian Rolston, who had his fourth 30-goal season last year in Minnesota, Montreal's Michael Ryder, who slumped to 14 goals last year after scoring 25, 30 and 30 in his first three years, and veteran Brandan Shanahan (650 career goals, 23 last year with New York) are other possibilities. Fellow Ranger Sean Avery, perhaps the league's premier agitator, would also be an intriguing option, though the baggage he brings with a checkered past of attitude problems may keep the Bruins from pursuing him.

The Bruins also have needs on the blue line, specifically in the form of another puck-moving defenseman. This free agent class features a number of possibilities, led by San Jose's Brian Campbell (8-54-62, 96 blocked shots last year), Colorado's Jean-Michael Liles (6-26-32, 121 blocked shots), Ron Hainsey of Columbus (8-24-32, 91 blocked shots) and Ottawa's Wade Redden (6-32-38, 88 hits, 94 blocked shots).

Each of those players will command premium prices, and the Bruins likely would not be able to fit both Hossa and one of them under the cap, even if they can move Murray.

Flying somewhat lower on the radar are the Rangers' Michal Rozsival (13-25-38, 93 hits, 129 blocked shots) and Montreal's Mark Streit, who had 13-49-62 totals while splitting time between defense and forward. They won't come cheap, but might be in Boston's price range if the Bruins opt for a cheaper alternative to Hossa.

This could also be the year GMs start throwing around offer sheets at restricted free agents more liberally. Once a taboo tactic, this year's relatively lean unrestricted crop and the realities of a cap world could make such moves more acceptable. That could bring the likes of young power forwards Corey Perry of Anaheim and Ryan Clowe of San Jose, gritty Sabres center Paul Gaustad and Florida star defenseman Jay Bouwmeester onto Boston's wish list.

The variables for Tuesday's potential shopping sprees are infinite, but the one definite is that Chiarelli will have his checkbook ready if he can find what he wants at the right price.

"We've got a list in place and it depends on how I feel the market is going and what impact that player would have, and what the demands of that player are on July 1 or just after July 1," said Chiarelli.

(Douglas Flynn covers the Bruins for the Daily News. He can be reached at 508-626-4405 or dflynn@cnc.com.)

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